Pharma industry pays £209 million for Q2 medicines bill

The UK pharma industry paid £209 million ($317 million) to underwrite growth of the medicines bill for the second quarter of 2015, according to an industry body report, raising concerns patients are not getting access to the right medicines at the right time.

The growth rate of branded medicines in the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme (PPRS) stood at 2.41%, for the second quarter of 2015, half that of the year ago quarter, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) said.

David Watson, director of pricing and reimbursement for the ABPI, said: “We are deeply concerned that the reduced growth rate shown in the second quarter suggests that patients in the UK are still losing out. Whilst industry is underwriting the medicines bill, patients are still not getting access to the right medicines at the right time. The UK already lags behind the rest of Europe in investing in medicines, based on the expenditure on pharmaceuticals per person. Today’s figures suggest that this could be worsening.”